Stamp and envelope moistener



OCt- 9, 1952 G. c. MYDDELTON 3,056,999

STAMP AND ENVELOPE MOISTENER Filed Deo. 8, 19Go United States Patent @iiiice 3,056,999 Patented Oct. 9, 1962 3,056,999 STAMP AND ENVELOPE MOISTENER Geoffrey Cheadle Myddelton, Henley-on-Thames, England, assignor to Carbonaire S.A., Vaud, Switzerland, a

company of Switzerland Filed Dec. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 74,680 Claims priority, application Great Britain Dec. 1S, 1959 1 Claim. (Cl. 15-541) This invention relates to applicators for moistening solvent activated adhesives, for example, that normally provided on stamps, envelope flaps and labels.

Known examples of these applicators generally utilise sponge of foam material for transmission of moisture from a reservoir to the object being moistened. Such applicators have however the disadvantage of a high evaporation rate from the reservoir when the device is not in use.

Accordingly itis an object of this invention to provide a moisture applicator which enables the transmission of moisture readily to be controlled and also prevents the loss, by evaporation, of moisture contained therein.

According to the present invention, a moisture applicator comprises a container for a liquid solvent and consists of a body portion, at least part of which is compressible and an externally screw-threaded neck portion, a spout element having at one end a discharge orice and at its opposite end an internally screw-threaded cap portion, by which said spout element is detachably connected to said neck portion, `and a wick element of stranded material disposed within said spout element, said wick element projecting beyond said discharge orifice to provide a brush for applying said solvent to a surface, wherein, in use, the application of pressure to said compressible part of said body portion is operative to cause said solvent to pass through said wick element to moisten said brush, said wick element further serving as a stopper for said spout element which stopper is effective to prevent the outow and evaporation of said solvent from said container unless pressure is applied to said compressible part.

A preferred embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the container for the solvent which is in the form of a bottle and is made of a plastic that is sufficiently pliable i.e. exible, to enable its wall to be depressed, by squeezing it to cause a small amount of solvent to be ejected. The bottle at its closed end is ilat and has at the other end a neck 2 threaded externally for attachment thereto of a spout 3. The spout 3 which is threaded internally `for engagement with the neck of the ysolvent container consists of a comparatively small size tube so that when suitably stoppered by insertion of a tightly packed bundle 4 of iine threads or strands, ilow of liquid is prevented until pressure is applied to collapse the wall of the container to eject its contents. The wick comprises a bundle of closely spaced, for example, interwoven strands of a synthetic material such as that known under the registered trademark Terylenef A short length of the wick protrudes from the tip of the spout and serves as a brush for applying solvent to an article being moistened. The tip of the spout is provided with a circumferential lip forming an annular disc the plane of the disc being inclined at an angle to the axis of the spout.

It has been found that when interwoven threads of a synthetic bre, such as Terylene (R.T.M.) are compressed together in the manner hereinbefore described, the wick thus formed effectively serves the function of a plug to prevent evaporation of solvent from the container.

However, when pressure is applied to the container by squeezing, the wick transmits the solvent to the surface being moistened, the solvent being forced between the strands of the fibre in an amount determined by the pressure applied to the container and the period during which the pressure is maintained.

The solvent is thus discharged into the brush which provides a soft llexible member for applying the solvent to an object.

The annular disc which surrounds the tip of the spout enables pressure to be applied to the brush thereby evenly spreading the solvent over the surface. As illustrated in the drawing, the spout 3 and its lip are formed of the same material as the lbottle 1, being flexible. The flexibility of the lipl permits solvent to be expelled from the tip of the brush by the `application of pressure to the lip, and allows variation of the angle by which the lip is inclinable to the surface to which the solvent is applicable.

The resilience of the container is suicient, when pressure is removed therefrom, to restore the container to its original shape, the solvent expelled from the container being replaced by air drawn into the container between the strands of the wick.

The container can readily be replenished with solvent through the opening in the container exposed by the removal of the detachable spout.

What is claimed is:

A moisture applicator comprising a container for a liquid solvent and consisting of a body portion, at least part of which is compressible and an externally screwthreaded neck portion; a spout element having at one end a discharge orifice and at its opposite end an internally screw-threaded cap portion, by which said spout element is detchably connected to said neck portion; and a wick element of iibers disposed under compression within said spout element, said discharge orice having a circumferential annular exible disc forming a circumferential lip, the plane of the disc being inclined to the axis of the spout element and said wick element projecting beyond said discharge orice to provide a brush for applying said solvent to a surface, wherein in use the application of pressure to said compressible part of said body portion is operative to cause said solvent to pass through said wick element to moisten said brush, and the application of pressure to said circumferential ilexible lip is operative to expel the solvent from said moistened brush, said flexible lip permitting variation of the angle by which the plane of the lip is inclinable to the surface to which the solvent is applied, aud said wick element further serving as a stopper for said spout element which stopper is eifective to prevent the outflow and evaporation of said -solveut from said container unless pressure is applied to said compressible part.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 973,375 Molloy Oct. 18, 1910 2,466,785 Schreyer Apr. 12, 1949 2,517,283 Bryant Aug. 1, 1950 2,659,919 McCabe et al Nov. 24, 1953 2,740,979 Bridy Apr. 10, 1956 2,897,526 Dootson Aug. 4, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 851,298 France Oct. 2, 1939 

